We are chained to our desk today and didn’t make it up to the Bronx, but we have some excerpts from the speech Freddy Ferrer delivered there this morning. What’s immediately striking is that he’s re-embracing the “two New Yorks” theme that brought criticism from some quarters in 2000.
The goal, he said, is to avoid “the path of economic polarization where we are a city of those of vast wealth and those who struggle just to get by.”
Here’s the key passage:
“I’ve spoken in the past about two New Yorks. Let me be clear: I am still committed to solving this problem. In my heart, I know that this is a reality we still face. I see it when I ride the subway. I see it when I visit schools. We don’t want a city that’s an island of the vastly rich surrounded by a struggling mass of working poor desperately trying to get into the economic and social mainstream.”
This election may turn on whether Mike can convince people that the city is doing fairly well and that their lives are likely to improve. Or whether Freddy or another rival can successfully make the case that there’s a lot of suffering just below the statistical surface, and that he can help.
